Nothing else can match Indiana's love for basketball

Nobody does basketball like Indiana, my dear home state.

From the movie "Hoosiers," to the rims on the side of nearly every barn and garage from one small town to the next, to the many legends who call Indiana home, the stereotypes and clichés really do ring true.

More than anything, Indiana is known for its deep love of hoops. This "Hoosier Hysteria" had helped it become the basketball capital of the world.

Not surprisingly, Indiana also celebrates its basketball history like no other. And last weekend, I was lucky enough to be a part of its latest celebration, along with 25 other women and four men, all with impressive accomplishments on and off the court.

The festivities started in the small Indiana town of New Castle, the home of basketball legend Steve Alford and New Castle High School gym, which happens to be the largest high school gym in the country with a capacity of 9,314.

According to officials at the Indiana High School Hall of Fame museum, also located in New Castle, 15 of the top 16 largest high school gyms in the nation are in Indiana, all with a capacity of more than 6,500.

You didn't doubt that Indiana has its own high school basketball museum, did you? Here's the thing, though. It's not a room in an existing office building, or a corridor in a college sports stadium, like the basketball Halls in some states.

Indiana's shrine is 14,000 square feet of basketball beauty. It's a shiny, slick self-contained building that features exhibits and memorabilia and interactive displays. It may be the only state high school basketball museum and Hall of Fame of its kind and magnitude in the country.

Legends such as John Wooden, Tony Hinkle, Larry Bird and Oscar Robertson are honored there, along with the 1954 Milan team that inspired the movie "Hoosiers." Believe it or not, the actual coach of that Milan team, Marvin Wood, was my AAU coach many years later in his career.

I was honored with 17 other native Hoosiers from the Class of 1990 as part of the Hall of Fame's Women's Silver Anniversary team. Meanwhile, nine other women, including former Stevenson star Tamika Catchings (who earned a special induction for her spectacular 14-year career with the Indiana Fever), and four men were inducted into the actual Hall of Fame, an honor that a player is eligible to receive 26 years out of high school.

Our banquet drew an audience of 670 people, just a month after the men's banquet drew an audience of more than 1,000. Only in Indiana could there be such interest in basketball past.

What makes Indiana basketball so special and unique is not just the fascination with the basketball itself, but also with the people behind it. Basketball players in Indiana are hometown heroes, local legends.

No wonder so many of them go on to become even bigger and better in their adult lives.

In our class alone, there is a college dean, an engineer, a hospital's chief of surgery, a sports attorney and college professor, a pharmacist, a research nurse, several college basketball coaches and small business owners. One woman, who works at professional services firm Ernst & Young, has been named to the Forbes list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women eight times.

All of these women got their start in Indiana, dreaming big dreams while shooting on worn-out hoops in the driveway, or alongside the barn.

That's how my story began, too. Getting to remember those days was such a gift.

As a basketball lover, getting to grow up in Indiana was also a gift. I am so proud to be a Hoosier, and honored that I am now part of such a special Indiana fraternity.

Border state: Meanwhile, in Illinois, there is no actual Basketball Hall of Fame and museum. At least not yet.

An Illinois High School Basketball Museum is supposedly in the works, and will be located in downstate Pinckneyville, which is between Carbondale and St. Louis.

Check out the museum's website at illinoishoops.org.

The squad: Congratulations to my fellow Silver Anniversary team members: Glenna Bower (New Washington/Southern Indiana), Shannon Wills Burton (Zionsville/Duke, Butler), the late Angela Cotton Dearman (Anderson/Butler), Angie Johnson Hartley (Warsaw/Liberty), Dianne McConnell Haworth (Leo/Ball State), Jody Martin (Alexandria Monroe/Louisville), Michelle Warwick Michael (Jay County/Butler), Ellen Blackmun Probst (Munster/Iowa State, Pepperdine), Kathy Lauck Schreiber (Roncalli/Southern Indiana), Dana Drew Shaw (Penn, Valparaiso/Toledo), Stacie Shepherd (Richmond/Indiana, St. Joseph's), Jami Sloan (Lebanon/Butler), Jana Thompson (Noblesville/Morehead State), Kamie Arnold Tomasek (Huntington North/Missouri Western), Erin Duncan Turk (Roncalli/Indianapolis), Karen Redenbaugh White (Owen Valley/Indiana), Carla Westmoreland Zellers (Scottsburg/Ball State).

Hall of Famers: Congratulations to the 2015 Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Inductees: Tamika Catchings (Indiana Fever), Beth Millard Brooke-Marciniak (Taylor/Purdue), Dianna Christensen (Marshall/Indiana), Kelly Lane Clauss (Rivet/Vincennes), Courtney Cox Cole (Noblesville/Indiana), Hedy Pottorff George (coach at Columbus North), Vicky Hall (Brébeuf/Texas), Mike Hey (coach at Leo), MaChelle Joseph (DeKalb/Purdue), Tom Megyesi (coach at Lake Central), Kris Veatch Nolan (Zionsville/New Mexico State), Ray Tebbe (official), Phil Vidito (official).

pbabcock@dailyherald.com

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